Saint Andrew's Society of the State of New York Scholarship Fund

Particulars of Scholarships to be awarded for Academic Year 2024-25

For the academic year 2024-25, the Society will offer Scholarships to the total value of $70,000 to enable Scottish graduates to study for a year in the United States. Up to two Scholarships will be offered of up to $35,000 each.

Preference will be given to candidates who have no previous experience of the United States and for whom a period of study there can be expected to be a life-changing experience. Selection will be on the basis of an all-round assessment, including character, experience academic achievement, and need.

The selection process is conducted by Scholarship Committee of the Saint Andrew's Society of the State of New York.

Eligibility
1. Candidates must be Scottish by birth or descent and will be expected to have current knowledge of Scotland and Scottish current affairs, and of the Scottish tradition generally. The Society expects its scholars to be good ambassadors for Scotland.
2. Candidates must also be: 
  either graduates of a Scottish university, or of Oxford or Cambridge, who have completed their first degree course (so as to be qualified to graduate) not earlier than 2023;
  or students of a Scottish university, or of Oxford or Cambridge, who expect to complete their first degree course (so as to be qualified to graduate) in 2024.

The Grant
3. The monetary value of each Scholarship will be up to $35,000, to be applied in the first instance to payment of tuition fees.
4. The Scholarship Committee has discretion to allow the grant to be applied wholly or mainly towards the cost of travel or accommodation, if they are satisfied that tuition fees will be paid (or waived) by the host university or by another grant-giving body.
5. There is no formal means test, but account will be taken of any other scholarship, bursary, grant or waiver of fees awarded in connection with the candidate’s proposed course of study in the United States.
6. It is the responsibility of candidates to ensure that they have fully researched the total likely cost of studying in their chosen university, as well as the cost of travel and accommodation. The Society cannot offer further financial assistance beyond the amount of the Scholarship.
7. Applicants are advised that once an application has been accepted by an American university, a deposit will need to be paid to the university to secure the place offered. The payment of the deposit may be required before the final outcome of the selection process for the Saint Andrew’s scholarships is known.
8. Information about other possible sources of funding can be found at: https://www.fundingusstudy.org/

Tenure
9. The Scholarship will be tenable from August 2024 to May 2025 at a university in the state of New York, or within 250 miles of its boundary, or within the area of Washington DC.
10. Where a student cannot find a course for their special subject of study within the geographical area indicated above, the Society may consider allowing the Scholarship to be held at another University in the United States.
11. Candidates are strongly advised to apply to more than one university. In previous years, highly qualified candidates have failed to gain a place at the university of their choice and have then found it difficult or impossible to find a place elsewhere.

Scholars’ involvement with the Society
12. The Society will invite its scholars to attend its annual Saint Andrew’s Day Banquet in New York City as well as the New York Tartan Day festivities in April.
13. Scholars are expected to send to the Society at least two informal written reports, one in the first semester and the other in the second, addressing their personal and educational experiences during their time in the United States. Scholars are encouraged to submit their reports in the form of a blog-post so that the Society may share the scholars' experiences with its members and on its website.
14. The scholars will be asked to stay in contact with the Society, so that they may continue to receive information about the Society and Society events, and so that the Society may learn of their progress as they advance their careers. Additionally, Society Scholars will be given an automatice five year complimentary membership of the Society following completion of their year as a SAS scholar.

Application Process
15. Closing date for applications to the University is Monday 15 January 2024 and interviews will be held soon afterwards (these will be held in the University and are separate to the main interviews arranged by the Society).
16. Applicants should complete the application form and email this to senate-administrative-assistant@glasgow.ac.uk.
17. Applications should NOT be submitted directly to the Saint Andrew’s Society.

References
18. Applications must be accompanied by reference letters from two of the candidate's undergraduate institution academic referees written on, or annexed to, the form entitled 'Confidential Report by Referee'. The form must be signed and dated by the applicant and the referee and emailed to senate-administrative-assistant@glasgow.ac.uk

Interviews
19. Candidates will be informed by 31 March 2024 whether they have been selected for interview.
20. Interviews will take place in mid-April 2024, via in-person or Zoom calls scheduled by the Society. Candidates will be informed whether they have been successful as soon as possible thereafter.
Recent experience shows that a number of worthy candidates have been placed in difficulties because they have applied to one US University only, as some US universities can be very slow in allocating places and at least one appears to have a quota for applicants from Scotland. Therefore, potential candidates are encouraged to ‘spread their bets’ by applying to several universities. Also, candidates should note that the Saint Andrews scholarship grant is insufficient to fund a year’s study in the US, so please refer to the website https://www.fundingusstudy.org/ as a guide to other sources of potential funding.